''Santhi Nivasam'' () is a 1960 Indian

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

-language

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

C. S. Rao Chittajallu Srinivasa Rao (1924 – 8 December 2004) was an Indian actor, writer and director. He was the son of film director Chittajallu Pullayya. He directed around 65 films in the Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Oriya languages. He garnered ...

. The film stars

Akkineni Nageswara Rao Akkineni Nageswara Rao (20 September 1923 – 22 January 2014), widely known as ANR, was an Indian actor and producer, known for his works majorly in Telugu cinema. He starred in many landmark films in his seventy five-year career, and became on ...

Rajasulochana Chittajallu Rajeevalochana (15 August 1935 – 5 March 2013), better known as Rajasulochana, was an Indian classical dancer and actress. She has acted in more than 300 Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi language films. Early life She w ...

Kantha Rao Tadepalli Lakshmi Kantha Rao (16 November 1923 – 22 March 2009) was an Indian actor and producer known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema. Regarded as one of the finest method actors, Rao starred in more than four hundred feature ...

, Krishna Kumari and

Devika Devika Devadoss (born Prameela Devi) (25 April 1943 – 2 May 2002) was an Indian actress who worked in Tamil, Telugu with few Malayalam, Kannada, Hindi film industry. She was a popular lead actress in the 1960s. Devika is the grand daughter ...

. It is an adaptation of

Palagummi Padmaraju Palagummi Padmaraju, shortly P. Padmaraju (Telugu: పాలగుమ్మి పద్మరాజు) (24 June 1915 – 17 February 1983) is a Telugu writer and winner of Sahitya Akademi Award. He is known for his works in Telugu literature ...

's Telugu play of the same name, which itself was based on

B. S. Ramiah Batlagundu Subramanian Ramiah (24 March 1905 – 18 May 1983) was a Tamil writer, journalist, and critic from Tamil Nadu, India. He was also a script and dialogue writer in Tamil films. Biography B. S. Ramiah was born in Batlagundu in 1905. H ...

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

play ''Malliyam Mangalam''. ''Santhi Nivasam'' was released on 14 January 1960. The film was a commercial success, running for over 100 days in several theatres. It was remade in

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

as ''

Gharana In Hindustani music (North Indian classical music), a ''gharānā'' is a system of social organisation in the Indian subcontinent, linking musicians or dancers by lineage or apprenticeship, and more importantly by adherence to a particular mus ...

'' (1961).

Plot

Ramadasu is a wealthy and mild-mannered man. Santhamma is his aggressive, petty-minded and controlling wife who always ill-treats her daughters-in-law, the widow Ramani and the devout Lakshmi, who is married to Santhamma's second son Raju. Gopi, the youngest son, is a bachelor, and the daughter Chitti leaves her husband Simhalu, to live with her parents. Gopi falls in love with Radha, who has a vixen stepmother and an understanding father, lawyer Seetapathi Rao. A jealous Chitti creates suspicion in Raju about the relationship between Lakshmi and Gopi. Raju thinks that they are having an affair, he makes observations but is not ready to confront anyone. Raju's suspicions are not laid to rest even when Gopi marries Radha. Raju starts to drink and ends up getting friendly with a childhood friend, Ragini. Gopi, with the help of Simhalu and Radha, manages to set things right and bring about peace.

Cast

as Gopi *

as Radha *

as Raju * Krishna Kumari as Ragini *

as Lakshmi *

V. Nagayya V. Nagayya (born Vuppaladadiyam Nagayya Sarma; 28 March 1904 – 30 December 1978) also known as Chittoor Nagayya was an Indian actor, singer, music composer, and director known for his works in Telugu cinema, Tamil cinema, and Telugu theatre. ...

as Ramadasu * Relangi as Narasimhalu *

Ramana Reddy Ramana Reddy (1 October 1921 – 11 November 1974) was an Indian character actor, comedian and producer known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema. In a career spanning 24 years, he acted in more than 200 movies. Ramana Reddy and Relangi ...

as Captain Paramanandaiah *K. V. S. Sarma as Seetapati Rao *

Suryakantham Suryakantam or Sooryakantam (pronounced sūryakāntam) is a rāgam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is the 17th ''melakarta'' rāgam (parent scale) in the 72 ''melakarta'' rāgam system of Carnatic music. I ...

as Santamma *Surabhi Balasaraswathi as Chitti *

Hemalatha Hemalatha, often credited as Hema, is an Indian actress and dancer. She is acclaimed for her roles as Raghavi in the popular soap opera ''Kana Kaanum Kaalangal'' on STAR Vijay and as Deepa in the superhit Tamil drama serial on Sun TV ''Thend ...

as Ramani

Production

Development

The actors Vallam Narasimha Rao and

Padmanabham Padmanabham mandal is one of the 46 mandals in Visakhapatnam District in India. It is under the administration of Visakhapatnam revenue division and the headquarters is located at Padmanabham. The Mandal is bounded by Bheemunipatnam, Anandapuram ...

acquired the Telugu rights of

S. V. Sahasranamam Singanallur Venkataramana Iyer Sahasranamam (29 November 1913 – 19 February 1988), also known as S. V. S., was an Indian actor and director. Primarily a theatre actor, he also worked in over 200 films, mainly in Tamil cinema. Early lif ...

's Tamil play ''Malliyam Mangalam'', which was written by

, for their first stage production made under the Rekha & Murali Arts banner. The Telugu version, ''Santhi Nivasam'', was written by Palagummi Padmaraju. The play, which starred Padmanabhan and Meenakumari, was an immense success, and caught the attention of producers Sundarlal Nahata, T. Aswathanarayana and director

, who saw "immense potential" in it and bought the film rights.

Samudrala Jr. Samudrala Venkata Ramanujacharyulu, better known as Samudrala Jr. (1923 – 31 May 1985) was an Indian screenwriter and lyricist known for his works in Telugu cinema. He is the son of screenwriter Samudrala Raghavacharya, better known as Sa ...

was hired to make changes, such as expanding the story and creating new characters for the film adaptation, which was also titled ''Santhi Nivasam'' and was produced under Sri Productions. He also worked as a dialogue writer and lyricist. Cinematography was handled by

Kamal Ghosh Kamal Ghosh (1910–1983; often misspelled in film credits as Kamaal) was an Indian cinematographer and film director. Although a native of Kolkata, he was active primarily in Tamil and Telugu cinema. Early life Kamal Ghosh was the nephew of f ...

(with J. Sathyanarayana serving as "operative cameraman"), editing by N. M. Shankar and C. Hari Rao.

Casting and filming

was chosen to play Gopi, reprising the role originally played by Padmanabham in the Telugu play. This role was rewritten for the film as the male lead, unlike the play where it was a supporting role. C. S. Rao, who used to enact scenes for his actors, accidentally slipped during one such exercise on the doormat before Ragini's ( Krishna Kumari) house set while entering, but immediately managed to balance himself.

, who portrayed Gopi's older brother Raju, believed this was intentional and part of the story, and did exactly the same when filming the scene. After this, C. S. Rao told Kanta Rao, "Any way, it now turned into a symbolic shot for the critics. For the first time you are entering into another woman’s house and the slip represents your fall and the balancing act symbolises your control." Except for two songs which were shot at

Brindavan Gardens The Brindavan Gardens is a garden located 12 k.ms from the city of Mysore in the Mandya District of the Indian State of Karnataka. It lies adjoining the Krishnarajasagara Dam which is built across the river Kaveri. The work on laying out t ...

Mysore Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...

, the rest of the film was completed in one schedule.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by Ghantasala, and the lyrics were written by Samudrala Ramanujacharya. Many of the songs were adapted from

songs; "Aasalu Theerchave" was based on "Meethi Meethi Baton Se" from ''

Qaidi No. 911 ''Qaidi No. 911'' () is a 1959 Indian Hindi-language crime film produced and directed by Aspi Irani, and written by C. J. Pavri. The film stars Sheikh Mukhtar, Nanda (actress), Nanda and Mehmood (actor), Mehmood. It focuses on a man who is arrest ...

'', "Chakkanidaana" was based on the title song of ''

Dil Deke Dekho ''Dil Deke Dekho'' is a 1959 Indian Hindi romantic comedy film. It was Nasir Hussain's second film as a director after '' Tumsa Nahin Dekha'' (1957), which became a big hit and gave star Shammi Kapoor a new image as a comedic, dancing hero. Huss ...

'', "Raave Radha Rani Raave" was based on "Jhumta Mausam" from ''

Ujala Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (UJALA) was a project to distribute efficient LED lighting, launched by Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi on 5 Jan 2015. The project is spearheaded by the Energy Efficiency Services Limited. In non-sub ...

'', and "Come Come" was based on "Tim Tim Tim" from '' Mausi''. "Sri Raghuram", "Kalanaina Nee Valape" and "Ragala Saragala" were original compositions.

Release and reception

''Santhi Nivasam'' was released on 14 January 1960. The film was a commercial success, running for over 100 days in several theatres. It was remade in Hindi as ''

'' (1961), and dubbed in

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

as ''Shantinivas'' (1962).

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0261272 1960 drama films 1960 films 1960s Telugu-language films Films based on adaptations Films directed by C. S. Rao Films scored by Ghantasala (musician) Indian drama films Indian films based on plays Telugu films remade in other languages